“I don’t want us to win the ND because we are obsessed with winning it, but so that we can provide relief and a social policy in our country,” said the president of SYRIZA-PS. Stefanos Kasselakisin an interview with the radio station Talk Radio 98.9and spoke of a “re-establishment” conference in October.

The president of SYRIZA-PS noted that yesterday when he met citizens in his office, he didn’t just hear complaints “due to the mismanagement of the state”, but that “the people have borrowed to be able to do an operation because there is no public health”.

“We have to change the country”, he stressed, adding that “the problem with ND is not only Mr. Mitsotakis, it is their policy”. “ND will fail because their ideology does not bring unity to the people and impoverishes a very large part of them,” he said and pointed out:

“We already broke the omnipotence of Mitsotakis, so we are not afraid of him, he is the prime minister of 28% now.” Regarding the percentages of SYRIZA, he argued that it is an official opposition and it needs time.

“Obviously not”, he replied to the question of whether he would vote for any candidacy of Mitsotakis – if he were proposed in the event that Mrs. Ursula von der Leyen is not elected – for the head of the Commission. “We would not vote for any candidate who has such a rigid neoliberal philosophy. Obviously, Mr. Mitsotakis is fully aligned with Mrs. von der Leyen’s policy, so the answer is obviously no.”

“We have no preference for the leadership of PASOK – I would urge Spirtzis to form an opposition to Mitsotakis”

Also, regarding the presidential election in PASOK, Mr. Kasselakis said that he has no preference. “I prefer real progressive politics, I prefer answers,” he underlined, posing the question of PASOK’s position on the banks or on immediate recognition of the Palestinian state.

Asked how he wants to proceed with the progressive parties and in particular with PASOK, he replied that “the biggest party is abstention and the biggest bet for the parties of the wider left is to urge the people who stay away from the electoral process to listen to us and feel that something can change”.

“The other party, any other party that is, any other people who come to the grassroots, any people who come to this re-establishment conference that we will have in October, can participate in it and people can make their own party,” he said. he added: “It will be another party, it will be a new party, with the same philosophy as the modern left, but with fresh structures that respond to the 21st century.” As he commented, he has no doubt that everyone’s intention is to have a modern political party that can bring radical changes to society.

When asked if he will keep the name SYRIZA, he replied that “personally I wish to keep it, but this is not my decision, it is the decision of the delegates, the members of the party”. Asked about the changes in the structures, about which he has spoken, he said that “we will upgrade everything, we will upgrade above all the ability of each member to contribute and offer to society.”

He also noted that he wants SYRIZA to be able to announce a set of proposals for all major fields, health, small and medium enterprises, the banking system, etc., by the time of the TIF, and that in this regard they will even meet online in the summer think tank. He also announced that next week he will repeat his meetings with citizens and intends to do this regularly, not only in Athima, but also in Thessaloniki and elsewhere.

The president of SYRIZA was asked about the letter of executives requesting his removal Christos Spirtzis.

“There are statutory and collective procedures for such issues and any member or group of members can make any complaint they wish to the Ethics Committee, which with the current statute for its current operation will decide. I will absolutely respect the Commission’s choice, but I would urge Mr. Spirtzis to oppose Mr. Mitsotakis with the same fervor,” he answered.

Among other things, he commented that an executive of the SYRIZA Central Committee should in his public speech highlight issues such as “the deal with Attica bank that is about to be done” and which the party’s president has raised.

“Everyone in SYRIZA and the President’s Office had full knowledge of the finances”

Asked about his relations with Alexis Tsipras, Mr. Kasselakis said that “he was the president of the party for 15 years, so that I manage and we manage our collective bodies is a consequence of a leadership that has been there for 15 years”. To the question of whether “you have discussed these responsibilities of the previous leadership of the party with Mr. Tsipras”, he replied that “before the European elections I had mentioned these issues to him many times”, but he does not wish to reveal what he had say.

“All I can tell you is that everyone in the party and in the president’s office and in the Political Secretariat had full knowledge of the party’s issues, including the party’s financial issues. And what is sad – in my opinion – which can be seen from the statements submitted to the Parliament and from the former financial director of the party, is that there was a huge opening last year in the elections, in the national elections, and even among the two elections, when it was clear that funding would be reduced next year and we are currently forced to face a very difficult situation,” he stressed.

“The advertising contract that Avgi had from some outside and possibly competing media business interests is not in my opinion consistent with the culture of Avgi and the history of the newspaper,” he added.

When asked if this contract was with Mr. Maris, he answered in the affirmative. He mentioned that today he met a citizen who told him not to close the newspaper and replied that we have no money, while he asked him when he last bought the newspaper and he did not remember. He also said that “there is a management of these two companies (Avgis-Kokkinou), the president of SYRIZA is not the management of the two companies, it is very important to separate the two roles”.

“The responsibilities, whatever there are, will be taken by the right people at the right time, but right now what I can tell you is that the financial committee that we have set up by the KE is analyzing everything and personally I have to focus not only on the reconstruction of SYRIZA but also in the production of opposition”, he pointed out. In response to a question from a SYRIZA media worker, which was transferred to Mr. Kasselakis, why the workers of the two media are not paid since the party has received a state grant of 1 million, he said that “the decision on the resources of SYRIZA-PS will be made by Political Secretariat at its next meeting”.

In another listener question, relayed to him, about the Attica Bank and the Kalogritsa case and if he forgets all this, the president of SYRIZA replied that he has nothing to comment on this and that he does not forget anything.

“Now, we are referring to the wealth of the Greek people, which we must protect and I think it is good to leave the party propaganda and repetitions. The mistakes that have been made during the SYRIZA government should be analyzed by historians and political analysts and obviously by the former president. We are currently carrying out our work with reverence, the work of the official opposition, in order to be able to protect the money of the Greek people”, Mr. Kasselakis concluded.